Adam - Meaning of Adam

[ 2 syll. a-dam, ad-am ] The baby boy name Adam is pronounced in English as AE-DahM, in Dutch, German and Polish as AA-DaaM, or in Russian as aa-DAAM †.

1: Adam is used chiefly in the Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Polish, Romanian, and Russian languages, and it is derived from Hebrew origins. A biblical name, it is derived from the elements 'adamah' meaning red earth ; 'adam' man, human being ; 'adom' red. In the Bible, Adam was the first man created by God, and thus the father of all mankind. The color red could be traced ultimately back to the Hebrew 'adom', the color of human skin, or in reference to the red clay from which God created Adam. It could also be of Assyrian roots. In Hebrew, Adam is not used as a name, but it is the generic term for 'man'. The name was borne by Saint Adamnan (628-704), the abbot of Iona in Ireland, who was the first to report a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster; his name means 'little Adam'. English speakers adopted the name Adam during the Middle Ages, and its popularity among Christians increased after the Reformation. Notable bearers in literature have included the servant in the William Shakespeare play As You Like It (1599), and the titular character in the George Eliot novel Adam Bede (1859). The name Adamina (English and Hebrew) is the female form of Adam.

2: Adam has its origins in the Assyrian language. It is used largely in Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Polish, Romanian, and Russian. It is a biblical name derived from the word adamu with the meaning 'to make'. The generic name has been used in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Adam is popular as a baby boy name. The name grew in popularity from the 1950s up to the 1980s. At the peak of its usage in 1984, 1.276% of baby boys were named Adam. It had a ranking of #18 then. The baby name has experienced a drop in frequency since then. In 2016, it ranked at #75 with a usage of 0.258%, but it was nevertheless the most popular out of all boy names in its family. Adam was 6 times more popular than the 2nd ranked name, Adan, in 2016.